Berry's SEAJ trip Day 49: Traveling to Japan to start a new adventure (7/24/15)

Got to the airport and checked in and get to my gate to catch my first of 2 flights on jetstar Asia, a budget airline that I would like to avoid in the future as they charge you 4$ for a bottle of water, 8$ for beer , etc. So the a la carte they have is hyper-inflated. Good to know if I ever get stuck on them in the future. Even though they don't have real customer service, they still have 4 attendants. I have no idea why or what they do during the flights. Get into Manila and grab some food/drink in the 30 minutes we have to deboard the plane before reboarding and heading out on the second leg of this flight, Manila to Osaka. Finally figured out a position to maybe get some sleep, however the lady next to me had a crying kid that would stay quiet for 20 mins max before going crazy again. Could not have gotten off that flight any sooner. Takao's address made getting through customs/immigration difficult as it was 5-6 lines long and I had to sit there and write all of it for each one. Not only that, the customs people saw I had curry and wanted to look at it, so I had to unpack my bag and show them the curry, then pack the bag up. I find the JR station and get my pass for the rail and head out to Kyoto to meet up with Takao.

Berry is happy to be in Japan! So am I to be fair.

Time to board the train. Hope this is the right train - Berry assures me this is the right one but I cant read these letters so here goes nothing.

We be traveling in luxury. Time to enjoy the train ride.

There is beautiful scenery all along the way with city/ocean/plains on one side, mountains out the other side. The train ride reminds me somewhat of Europe as the towns are these small somewhat communal towns along the rails with many people on bikes and small streets with small cars all around; obviously the impressive ancient Japanese architecture is different but just in general I see many similarities. Get into Kyoto and meet Takao. We take a bus to his place, drop off the bags, and then run some errands for him and me (buying some local beer was my errand) while we see some of his city before heading home so I could shower.

Berry, you cannot go for a swim, we dont got time for that.

Berry and us walking along the river.

View down the main river in Kyoto. 

Berry liking this view as well. I am starting to think he loves Japan (cant blame the bear).

Panoramic view of this part of the town. 

Berry loving the view. Eventually we will leave this spot but not until he is ready.

Get to a bridge walking around Kyoto. Lovely view. Berry wants a picture.

I am walking down the stairs in just my soccer shorts as Tomoko gets home with the kids and the littlest one sees me and freaks out and will not come in the house; I guess he is not used to big shirtless white dudes in his house. The older one, HG, recognizes me from a picture that he, Takao and I are in from their time in Houston, however he thinks the kid in the picture is his little brother A. After hanging out a bit, we have dinner (BBQ eel – its eel day apparently) which was delicious; I had veggies for the first time in what seemed like forever. I play with the kids for a bit before giving my sandals a good washing to try and relieve some of the smell they have accumulated over time; turns out wearing the same shoes for 2 months or so and sweating in them constantly makes them smell a little off. After that, they shower and we all prepare for bed . Some of the cool things I realized from day one: 1) toilets are all pretty much electric with a variety of functions, 2) their washer dryer was combined into one machine to save space, 3) in that same vein, their dish washer was a little bigger than most toaster ovens, 4) I have missed home cooked and balanced meals, 5) Beer in japan is pretty good both in the variety and the execution of those styles, 6) it is great to see Takao and his family as they are great people. I am looking forward to this part of the trip very much!

They make some good beer here in Japan. And their cans are beautiful.

My digs for the next week or so. Home sweet home.